Fishing tool for wells



Dec. 22. 1953 Filed May 31; 1952 R. DONNELL ETALF,

FISHING TOOL FOR WELLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Robe/v D0/7/7e// (/0777 es R. (/e/m/nyJ IN V EN TORJ- ATTORNEY e 22, 1953 R. DONNELL ETAL FISHING TOOL FOR WELLS Filed May 31, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Robert Don/7e L/O/WGJ I? Jenn/r793 INVENTOM A 7' TOR/YE r Patented Dec. 22, 1953 UN IT S TAT-ES PATENT 2,663,370

"sisnme TOOL Fo -wants Robert Donnell, Midland, and ".iztmes Bay Jennings, Odessa, 'Tex. Application May 31, 1952, Serial'No. 2ii0,6 8 Claims. (01 166- 19) 1 C'Ifhis invention relates to'a well toohandpav tioularly to a fishingtool for use in recoverin from the bottom ofa Well various objects such as broken' parts of tools, loose pieces of metal,

bit cones, and the like, which, unles removed,

present obstacles to the further drillirig of the well bore and are hazardous-to the-operation of 'th'edrilling tools. Fishing tools employed for this purpose are termed, in oil industry parlance,

junk baskets. 7

Conventional jun-k baskets are-made in various forms Generally, the tool comprises a tubular body-havinga large bored chamber at its bottom which islowered-on the end of a string of pipe to the bottom of the Well where 'theobjects to be'reoovered are lodged. Where the objects tobe recovered are relatively smallin size, the tool may be I provided with "an external sleeve positioned above the lower end of the tool-and open at its upper end to provide an annular pocket or basket to receive these smaller sized objects as they are Washed upwardly "in the annular space between the tool and the wall of the Well bore by-w'ash liquid which is circulated 'downwardiy through the bore of :the tool and thence upwardly in the annular spacebetween the tool and the wall of'the well bore. ,Thereductioniin Velocityof the washiiquid as itflows upwardly p'astthe 'tool allows the-foreign objects to settle out and be trapped in the external :basket.

Where the foreign objects-are too'large to be haught'i-n the external basket, they -may be washed or forced into the large-bored chamber in the lower end of the'tool by provi'din'g'byma'ss channels in the tool body whereby the wash litluid may be direoted from a point along the bore of the tool above thechamber to the exterior of the 'to'ol and thenoe downwardly around the bottom of the tool to theiinterior thereof to thereby wash the object intothe interior of the ftbol by this so-called ffrev e rse circulation." The bottom of the tool-is normally provided with suitfable 'retain'er means :to retain the:o'bjects inside the body. Thebottom of the body may also be provided 'w'ithoutting milling teeth so that rotationaoi the body will c ut-a core from the bottom or the well which enters the interior of the tool carrying an to ib'e recovered. g

One of the principaldisadvantages of present types of junk baskets having means {for both normal and reverse circulation of the wash liquid, is that once 'theljtoolisin thewell and is operates "to change the e ul'ation: from normal to reverse oiroiilati'oh, it sasnat be changed back its upper end the objects A principal object of th is inventiqnis togprovide animproved'form of "junk basket by all of t e ve el dese i b si iyn s.. qqv operation may be selectively performed individually or simultaneously.

. A m y obi q is t rili t aaf brie Ld t-J' ii basket in which. ircu aii' n 9 thew- 11.. .fl

. may .b a esi rom.n ma .t reversel c r l tion as often as desired, Without removing the @001 m e We s Other an m g cifl o i ets and ad an a of ih sj eiit n l ecqmeia p r n g romth followin detailed descriptionwh'en read incon- Junction with theacc mpany n drawin s. which illustrate one usefiul embodiment in accordance with this invention.

In e wi I Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional viewofthe tool. in ord n e w h t res n nventio the al't i s shownin tne,;- q ions o u ied during normal circulation of wash liquid through the o i. i

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectiona1 view along line 2 2 Of i -1; i

. Fig. 3 is "a cross sectional view along line 3 3 of Fig. l; v v 1 Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line i -4 of Fig.1;

'Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view along line 55 offFig.'2 beinggenerally similar to Fig. 1 but'angularly oriented relative thereto, andshowing the parts in the positions occupiedjdu'ring reverse circulation of the wash liquid through the tool; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the details ofthe device.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the'tool. is composed of three. majorportions, a bottom shoe, designated generally by the numeral H), a reverse-circulation sub, designated generally by the numerali'l l, and a top basket, designated generally by the numeral L2. These portions are connected together in coaxial'endv-toend relation to form a continuous cylindrical 12601 of substantially H uniform, external diameter adapted to ,jbe inserted in the bo e of a well '13. o o eet, I0. i m os d of .a ub rh y vinaa relativel ilar e ,d.i met r. ev I5 a p ovid d at it vlgwer.enciwi g .downwardiyh jecting circumferentially arranged milling teeth l6. At its upper end the wall of body i4 is internally threaded to receive an externally thread ed pin ll forming the lower end of reverse circu lation sub II. The lower end of pin il which projects into bore l5 forms a downwardly facing annular shoulder H3. The lower end of body it just above teeth i9 is provided with an upwardly facing annular shoulder iii. A catcher collar 29 is rotatably seated on shoulder I9 and is provided with a plurality of radially inwardly projecting catcher fingers 2| adapted to retain in the bore of body 14 any objects which enter the bottom of the tool. The catcher collar may be of any generally conventional design suitable for this purpose. As illustrated, (see particularly Fig. 6), collar 29 is provided with a plurality of angularly spaced longitudinal slots 22 having the fingers 2i hingedly journalled therein by means of hinge pins 23. The bottoms of slots 22 from stops to hold the fingers in the generally horizontal position, the fingers being free to swing up wardly to the vertical position in slots 2| to permit entry of an object into the bore of the body. Coil springs 24 are connected between hinge pins 23 and collar- 26 and are arranged to urge the fingers to the horizontal position to thereby retain within the body any object which has entered therein.

The upper end of collar 29 forms an upwardly facing annular shoulder 25. Supported between shoulders l8 and 25 is a tubular sleeve 26 which is dimensioned so as to be freely rotatable between these shoulders relative to body M. Sleeve 26 is provided with a plurality of angularly uniformly spaced, longitudinally extending, elongated openings 21. The wall of body i4 opposite sleeve 26 is provided with a plurality of angularly uniformly spaced holes 28 having diameters smaller than the width of openings 2?. A greater number of holes 29 than openings 27 is provided in order that one or more of the holes 28 will always be in registration with one or more of the openings 2'! irrespective of the angular position of sleeve 26 relative to body l4.

Reverse circulation sub ll comprises a tubular body 29 having relatively large diameter bore 30 of substantially the same diameter as that of sleeve 26 with which it is in open communication. At its upper end body 29 is provided with an internally threaded socket 3i adapted'to re- 3 ceive an externally threaded pin 32 formed on the lower end of upper basket [2. At its upper end adjacent the bottom of socket 9!, the bore of body 29 is closed by means of a plate 33. A

plurality of angularly spaced reverse circulation wash pipes 34 extend downwardly through plate 33 and thence outwardly through the wall of body 29 to the exterior thereof by way of ports 34a positioned at points somewhat above the lower end of the sub. Communication is thus provided between the interior of the tool above plate 33 and the exterior of body 29. A plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 35 are provided in a medial portion of the wall of body 29 at or slightly above the level of ports to provide communication between bore 39 and the exterior of body 29. It will be understood that the area of openings 35 will be made sufficiently large to permit free circulation of wash liquid through the interior of the tool from the bottom thereof to its exterior, and will usually be at least as great as the area of wash pipes 34. Plate 33 isprovided with a central opening 99 in which is mounted a downwardly extending tubular valve cage 31 having an annular seat 33 at its upper end opening to the upper face of plate 39. A disk valve 39 is mounted above seat 98 and is provided with a stem 40 which projects downwardly hrough the bore of seat 38 and extends slidably through a guide spider 4| in the lower end of cage 31. The lower end of stem 49 which projects below spider 4| is threaded and carries one or more adjusting nuts 42. A coil spring is surrounds stem 40 and is held in compression between valve 39 and spider 4! to normally urge valve 39 to the open position relative to seat B adjustment of nuts 42 the force of spring 49 exerted against valve 39 may be adjusted as desired.

An internal wash pipe 44 of relatively restricted diameter extends downwardly through plate 33 to an intermediate level inside bore 39, and terminates in an upwardly curved discharge nozzle 35.

Upper basket I2 comprises a generally cylindrical body 45 having a relatively narrow axial bore it which widens'out at its lower end and communicates with the up er ends of wash pipes 34 and 44 and valve seat 38. At an intermediate point above pin 32 the external diameter of body 45 is reduced to form a shank 41 which terminates at its upper end in an externally threaded pin 43 by which the tool is connected to the end of an operating pipe string 49 having a bore 59 communicating with bore 46. concentrically surrounding shank 41 and radially spaced therefrom is a collar 5! which may be formed as an integral upward extension of the outer surface of bod 45. The annular space between collar 5i and shank 41 forms an annular chamber or basket 52 which is open at its upper end and adapted to trap and retain small objects or foreign particles which settle out of the wash liquid flowing upwardly in the well bore past the exterior of the basket. Openings 53 are provided in the wall of collar 5| adjacent the bottom of the basket to permit passage of liquid therethrough.

The above-described tool operates in the following manner: The tool, assembled as described and connected to operating pipe 59, is lowered thereby to the bottom of well [3.

If it is desired to recover relatively small objects, circulation of wash liquid will be begun through bores 50 and 46 at a relatively low rate such that the force of spring 43 will be sufi'icient to hold valve 39 in the open position against the pressure exerted thereon by the wash liquid, as seen in Fig. 5. The wash liquid will then circulate normally, that is, the major portion will fiow through the open valve and the bores of sub 29 and shoe [4 to the well bottom and thence upwardly between the exterior of the tool and the wall of the wall bore. The velocity of the liquid washing across the bottom of the well will ordinarily be sufficient to carry the smaller foreign objects upwardly to a point abov basket 52 where the increase in area of the annular space, because of the reduction in diameter of shank 41, will cause a lowering of the velocity of the wash liquid sufficient to allow the foreign particles to settle downwardly and be trapped in basket 52. It will be understood that some portion of the liquid will how outwardly through washpipes 34 and openings 21, 29. Also a portion of the liquid will be circulated by internal wash pipe 44 through the interior of sub 29 and will discharge into the well bore through openings 35, thereby aiding in keeping the interior of the tool cleared of mud and cuttings. Liquid entering basket 52 will return terior of the tool.

It will be understood also that by rotating operating pipe 49, the tool may be rotated to employ the milling action of teeth Hi to aid; if found necessary, in lowering the tool to the well bottom.

If objects larger than those which can be accommodated in basket 52 must be removed, the volume of wash liquid is increased sufficiently to exert a degree of pressure on valve 39 sunlcient to overcome the opposing force of spring 43 and to thereby move valve 39 to the closed position 'on seat 38,, as best .seen in Fig. l. The major portion of the wash liquid will thus be diverted through wash pipes 34 and will :bedischarged at relatively .high velocity downwardly against and along the wall of well [3 and .across the bottom of the well below the lower end of shoe Ill and into the bore of the shoe sweeping foreign objects into the interior of thetool. The wash liquid will discharge from the interior of the tool to the exterior thereof through openings 21, 28 and openings 35, whence the liquid will continue upwardly through the well bore to the surface.

If found necessary or desirable, the tool may be rotated as the washing is conducted to wash around the foreign objects and allow the open end of the tool to pass over and enclose the objects. The rotation of the tool may also be employed to cut a core from the well bottom which will enter the bottom of the tool lifting objects lying on its upper end into the bore of the tool. The wash liquid circulating through the tool will wash away sand, clay, cuttings and similar detritus to better enable the tool to accommodate the larger objects. Internal wash pipe 44 will also circulate wash liquid through the interior of the sub to keep it cleared of mud and cuttings.

When a core or large foreign object enters the bottom of the tool, it will frictionally .engage sleeve 26 and fingers 2i. rotatable arrangement provided between sleeve 26 and collar and the body of shoe 10, permits continued rotation of the latter while sleeve 26 and collar 20 may be held stationary by a core or large object which has entered the in- The described relative arrangement of openings 21 and 28 allows escape of wash liquid from the interior of the shoe irrespective of the relative positions of the shoe and sleeve 26.

When the large objects have been deposited in the interior of the tool, the volume of wash liquid may be reduced, allowing valve 39 to open and restoring normal circulation, whereby further washing of th wall to remove any additional small objects may be conducted.

It may be desired to repeatedly switch between normal and reverse circulation in order to effectively remove both small and large foreign objects. By means of the described valve arrangement this may be done as often as desired without removing the tool from the well, by merely changing the rate of introduction of wash liquid to pipe 50, thereby providing a great deal of flexibility for employing the tool to meet a wide variety of conditions encountered in a well.

It will be understood that numerous alterations and changes may be made in the details of the illustrative embodiment within the scope of the appended claims but without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

The relatively 6 LA fishingtool'i-or wells. comprising, an elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered in a well on a pipean enlarged internal chamber in said body opening through its lower end, a

closure for the upper en'dof said chamber, a. port in said closure providing communication between said chamber and said .pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereorat points above its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior thereof, and movable valve means control-lingsaid port, said valve means including means normally resiliently urging the valve means to the open position and said vaive :meansbeing-closable by flow of fluid fromsaid pipe 'exceeding a predetermined rate.

2. A pilshin'g tool. for wells, comprising, an elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered in a well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in said body openingthrough'its lower end, a closure for theupper end of said chamber, aport in said closure, providing communication between said chamber and said pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereof at points above its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior thereof, movable valve means controlling said port, said valve means including means no'rmallyresiliently urging the valve means to the open position and said valve means being closable by flow of fluid from said pipe exceeding a predetermined rate, and an annu'l'ar chamber open at its upper end mounted on the exterior. of said body-adjacent its upper end portion.

3. A fishing tool for wells, comprising, an elongated tubular body. adapted to be lowered in a well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in saidbody opening through its lower end, a closure for the upper end of said chamber, a port in said closure providing communication between said. chamber and said pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereof at points above its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior thereof, movable valve means controlling said port, said valve means including means normally resiliently urging the valve means to the open position and said valve means being closable by flow of fluid from said pipe exceeding a predetermined rate, and a fluid conduit extending through said closure downwardly into the interior of said chamber.

4. A fishing tool for wells, comprising, an

elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered,

in a well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in said body opening through. its lower end, a closure for the upper end of said chamber, a port in said closure providing communication between said chamber and said pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereof at points above its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior-thereof, movable valve means controlling said port, said valve means including means normally resiliently urging the valve means to the open'position and said valve means being closable by flow of fluid from said pipe exceeding a predetermined rate, and a tubular sleeve member mounted within the lower por- 7 tion of said chamber for freerelative rotation with respect to said body, said sleeve member carrying catcher elements for retaining objects entering the interior of said sleeve member.

5. A fishing tool for wells, comprising, an elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered in a well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in said body opening through its lower end, a closure for the upper end of said chamber, a port in said closure providing communication between said chamber and said pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereof at pointsabove its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior thereof, movable valve means controlling said port, said valve means being resiliently urged to the open position relative to said port and arranged to be acted upon by flow of fluid from said pipe exceeding a predetermined rate to close said port, a tubular sleeve member mounted within the lower portion of said chamber for free relative rotation with respect to said body, said sleeve member carrying catcher elements for retaining objects entering the interior of said sleeve member, and a plurality of circumferentially spaced registering openings through the wall of said sleeve member and the opposite portion of said body.

6. A fishing tool for wells, comprising, an elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered in a well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in said body opening through its lower end, a closure for the upper end of said chamber, a port in said closure providing communication between said chamber and said pipe, fluid passages extending through said closure and outwardly and downwardly through the wall of said body to the exterior thereof at points above its lower end, openings through the wall of said chamber from the interior to the exterior thereof, movable valve means controlling said ort, said valve means being resiliently urged to the open position relative to said port and arranged to be acted upon by flow of fiuid from said pipe exceeding a pre determined rate to close said port, a tubular sleeve member mounted within the lower portion 'of said chamber for free relative rotation with respect to said body, said sleeve member carrying catcher elements for retaining objects entering the interior of said sleeve member, a plurality of circumferentially spaced registering openings through the wall of said sleeve member and the opposite portion of said body, and an annular chamber open at its upper end mounted on the exterior of said body adjacent its upper end portion.

7. A fishing tool for wells, comprising, an elongated tubular body adapted to be lowered in a Well on a pipe, an enlarged internal chamber in said body opening through its lower end, a closure for the upper end of said chamber, passages providing communication between said pipe and the exterior of said body for reverse circulation of fluid from the pipe, a port in said closure providing a fluid circulation passage between said pipe and the interior of said chamber, and velocity actuated valve means controlling said port, said valve means being acted upon by the fluid flowing from said pipe to move between portopening and port-closing positions in accordance with predetermined variations in the rate of now of said fluid whereby to selectively direct the References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,271,535 Barker Feb. 3, 1942 2,550,080 Moore Apr. 24, 1951 2,550,228 Costin Apr. 24, 1951 Davis Nov. 11, 1952 

